The shortest form of cricket, the T10 league is set to be played in the UAE, and the teams have got their team combinations ready. Star player like Chris Gayle, Shahid Afridi, Virender Sehwag and Kumar Sangakkara have agreed to participate in the league and franchisees have got what they wanted in the player’s draft. One of the strongest teams in the league is the Maratha Arabians.
Wasim Akram will mentor the Maratha Arabians, and the icon player of the team is former flamboyant Indian opener Virender Sehwag. The team also has the likes of Kumar Sangakkara, Alex Hales, Karman Akmal and Imad Wasim. Another interesting choice made by the team management is the selection of Mohammed Amir. Amir has been struggling with form recently and seems to have lost the wicket-taking knack for which he was best known.
Arabians chose Amir over the likes of T20 specialists Sunil Naraine, Kieron Pollard and Pakistan’s Champions Trophy final hero Fakhar Zaman. Team mentor Wasim Akram has defended the selection of Amir and has said that the bowler’s slump in form is temporary and is part and parcel of every player’s game.
Akram said:
“It was a difficult choice, but what I think is that T10 will be all about bowling. The best team will be the team with the better bowling attack. Bits and bobs players won’t work here. In T20, you can still say ‘OK, this player can give you one over’. But in T10, I think the professional, regular bowlers have to bowl. That is why Amir was the pick, because he bowls a good yorker, and he has got pace,”
“It is one of those phases that everyone goes through, even if, okay, it is a little prolonged. Sometimes you bowl well and don’t get wickets, and other times you bowl you are lucky to get a five-for. As long as he has got the pace, and he is still only 25, I reckon he can get back into gear with one spell, a couple of quick wickets. I am not worried about him at all.”
Even UAE’s coach Dougie Brown has praised the left arm Pakistan fast bowler, “He is an outstanding death bowler, and you would suggest that in a 10-over competition, two overs per bowler is going to be two overs of death,”
Since its announcement, the T10 league has drawn many haters because of cutting down the overs and making the game even short, but the legendary fast bowler who has 502 wickets to his name believes that the format will be a success in the coming years:
“Nobody knows what is going to happen and what plan you require for this format. When T20 cricket came in 10 years ago, everybody raised their eyebrows, but the idea is to have entertainment. In this country, time is of the essence. Kids don’t have time. They go to school, they come back, they do some sport. I think T10 can be successful. It is a new format, and that is exciting to me,”